Ben Pearce - "Lego EP"

I've been keeping a keen eye on Ben Pearce ever since I'd first heard "What I Might Do" close to a year ago. The Manchester-based producer and DJ has an uncanny handle on the fusion of bass-centric techno and house aesthetics, tightly-produced jams that specifically fill dancefloors. His latest EP, Lego, while not breaking a ton of new ground for Pearce, certainly keeps his name high on the roster of quality producers in a quickly flooding deep-house market.

The EP's eponymous track functions as a straightforward UK bass-house record, fun build-ups and drops, and no doubt a dancefloor killer, but not a whole lot else. The real satisfying material of the release shines through on the latter tracks, "GBH" and "The Rain Is Coming," providing more thought and simply more more creative material to listen through than the repetitive "Lego." "GBH" is a spaced-out techno heater that's begging for play in the largest warehouses (shocker, coming from Manchester), while "The Rain Is Coming" is inevitably the ideal soundtrack to forthcoming rainy Spring days, a relaxed track that draws on 303-riffs for a laid-back acid flavor on an already fantastic, meandering deep house track. These latter two tunes keep the Lego EP from straying into run-of-the-mill territory, and are a welcome update Pearce on what he's been feeling lately. G'waan, Ben.